i. BOUNTY fleur delacour

12

TWELVE

" supporting another's success
won't dampen yours. "
- anonymous

ON THE morning of the first task, mari sat in silence on her bed, fear of what was to come settling within her. she ate a large, but balanced, breakfast for the sake of her body —her appetite was far from recognisable.

fleur delacour sat on a wooden stool, tremors gently rocking her body. mari sat cross legged next to the stool, cold faced and still. every so often, fleur would inch her fingers hesitantly onto mari's shoulder and squeeze, the norwegian would lean into it just enough that fleur's warm hands brushed her jawline. neither said a word to each other.
   cedric was pacing, endlessly, in the tent. when he stopped, only momentarily, mari looked up and saw harry potter had entered. his middle-eastern complexion was flushed red on the high turfs of his cheekbones, from the cold or fear, mari did not know. though she guessed it was from both. he seemed to have both aged and gotten more youthful since his name had come from the goblet —his eyes looked gently haunted, and his face held a mature insecurity, whilst his body, the body of a child, made his age stand out more intensely. he was only a few years younger, and he had been through so much. despite his experience, however, he was more of a boy now,about to face a dragon, than ever before.
"harry! good-oh!" bagman had come in with his usual extravagant nature. "come in, come in, make yourself at home.
"well, now we are all here —time to fill you in! when the audience is assembled, from this bag, which i offer, you will select, each, a small model of what you are about to face." dragons. mari wondered if bagman had any clue that all the champions knew. he seemed pretty observant, in the most odd ways. "there are different varieties, you see —oh! and i have to tell you... ah, yes... your task, today, is to collect," he paused, in a mocking nature, mari drum-rolled, no one laughed, bagman cleared his throat, "the golden egg!"
no one spoke, only cedric showed any reaction by nodding. mari stood up straighter, she deserved to be here, there would be no reason for fear. she smirked, "did the golden egg come from a golden chicken? if so, i must say, i would much prefer a golden chicken—" fleur pinched her hand, cutting her off. mari laughed silently, turning to fleur slightly playfully. the blonde had a look of pure fear engraved in her features, and immediately mari sobered up. fleur wasn't pinching her playfully at all, she was looking for comfort. mari, under the shield of her cloak, gripped fleur's fingers.
   for a moment, mari felt her relax under her grip, before they returned to a rock solid state —in front of fleur was the purple bag that held the model dragons. she jerked her hand from mari's and shakily into the bag. she hesitated momentarily, her eyes flashing up to look at bagman, before pulling out a model with a wince. she looked at the dragon —a welsh green— with a blank face. her jaw clenched, she looked resigned.
   the bag was in front of the mari. she bowed her head, looking intently at the ground, as she slipped her hand between the silk opening of the pouch. her gritty fingers soon found a tough material, to which she grabbed and brought out of the bag. without looking up, she analysed her model. it was the chinese fireball, a fierce fire-breather, but not a dragon of immense agility.
she watched out of the corner of her eyes as cedric and harry took the remaining two models in the bag. she pushed the horror of seeing harry holding a miniature hungarian horntail down.
   the world faded out, mari heard bagman tell cedric he was first, but nothing after that. she went and stood on the far side of the room, her mind thinking of every possible scenario. she was faintly aware of fleur's pacing, but figured all should be left alone. there was noise from commentators and an audience, muffled by mari's concentration. was fleur next? or was mari? she found either order equally nerve-wracking. if karkaroff could see her now —he knew her well, he would know she was frightened— mari would have been yelled at, lectured.
   the crowd sound pierced mari's ears. it was loud, she concluded cedric must've completed the task. bagman called fleur's name. mari did not sigh in relief; she turned away from the girl, not being able to bear the sight of her before what was to come. the time it took fleur to complete the task felt longer than cedric's, although mari was sure it had been no more than a minute lengthier. she was nervous for fleur, but why? why should she be distracted by someone else in such situations?
   mari missed fleur's applause and finish, her ears only responding when her own name was called. it was time.

☇ ☇ ☇

the air outside was brisk, too brisk. mari hoped the dragon would not be able to feel the heat radiating off of her in the cold.
   there was a massive applause, a few wolf whistles too; there was a crowd waiting to be entertained.
   her boots padded almost silently against rocky terrain —but not silent enough. with slow, careful movement, mari drew her wand out and cast a very quick and quiet spell onto her feet. they would be completely silent. karkaroff had taught her that.
   "yes, yes, mckinnon is going for a very stealthy approach. she's silenced her boots, so she won't be heard, but the question that remains still, is, will she be seen?"
   the dragon was beautiful; magnificent. but mari had no time to spare appreciation. it was shuffling on its feet, facing away from mari. perfect. she tread very carefully around the perimeter of the arena area, careful to stay out of the peripheral vision of the dragon. she caught sight of the golden egg, amongst a nest of others. she began to walk straight ahead, straight behind the dragon.
   "now, what is she doing, here? she's getting awfully close to the dragon—"
   mari whistled. the crowd hushed.
   the dragon whipped furiously around, mari bent back onto her right hand, twisting into an arch, as it's tail flew over her.
   "very dangerous, but a very impressive dodge."
   as soon as the dragons angry face was in front of her, she slid beneath its legs at a quick speed. she heard the sound of fire being propelled from the dragon, but it was nowhere near her. the dragon, rather stupidly, ducked its head between its legs to get to mari —at such speed, it flipped around and landed on its back. mari was amazed, had she actually gotten that lucky...?
   "very, very agile, but where is she to go from here?"
   her breath was ragged and hot. without thinking, in a fluster of adrenaline and fear, mari charged at the dragon. she was jumping at it, she felt fire brush her side, burning her clothes. she felt the rough scales of the creature. it flailed as she grabbed hold of the indents within its skin. despite the dragons harsh movements, mari was able to scale it.
   "merlin! she's using a lot of physical ability, which is impressive, but is it necessary?"
   yes. she had a plan.
   she climbed on the shoulder of the dragon that was furthest from the egg. she was now directly parallel to it. she needed the dragon to get her to the egg.
   mari held her wand to the shoulder joint of the creature and muttered a very simple hex that made the target itch. the dragon, agitated, twisted in such a way, with such force, that mari went flying through the air.
   "oh, dear! oh, dear!"
   this is what she had planned, she did not fear her flight. as expected, and hoped, she sailed perfectly into the nest of the dragon. she felt eggs crush beneath her as she fell heavy onto her back, her head smashing lethally into the ground. with her last bit of consciousness, mari twisted onto her side and reached for the golden egg. she held it to her chest.
   the crowd cheered. she could hear the sound of the dragon being subdued. had she made karkaroff proud?
   she choked on some dirty air, and a wave of uneasiness fell over her. her mind went blank, and her body slack.

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